THE UNISEX

Hailing from Staffordshire, England, Unisex rose out of the dissolved Telescopes, an overlooked act that cut several strong early-'90s EPs for Creation Records. That British imprint once boasted a roster reduced over time yet once packed with acts such as Oasis, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Ride, and the Jesus & Mary Chain, making it simple for lesser-known names to slip through the cracks. Former Telescopes members Stephen Lawrie and Jo Doran, who now serve as Unisex's co-leaders, first joined forces in 1996 when Lawrie, Doran, and film music composer Nick Hemming supplied the soundtrack for Shane Meadows's low-budget U.K. film A Room for Romeo Brass. The three took pleasure in the sessions and kept recording, later bringing in Andrew Foster and Dan Thompson. Unisex's debut single, "They Do Feel Strange," surfaced in 1996 on Heaven Records U.K. and earned "Single of the Year" honors from Pop (France). Further 7-inch releases appeared on Heaven, Kooky, Short Fuse, Mind Expansion, and the small U.S. independent Double Agent. The track "Critical Condition" received "Single of the Week" recognition from the U.K.'s New Musical Express. The EP Deadlock came out in 2000, followed by the band's debut album, Stratosphere, issued by Double Agent in 2001. A forthcoming full-length slated for 2002 is expected to include every member of the five-piece lineup plus Randall Nieman of Füxa and Unexplained Transmissions.